


haze of heat

by westernapparel



Category: Room of Swords (Webcomic)
Genre: practice practice practice, still not so good at this
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-15
Updated: 2019-09-15
Packaged: 2020-10-18 21:07:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 541
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20645681
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/westernapparel/pseuds/westernapparel
Summary: Kodya likes the warmth.But Gyrus burns something fierce, and twice-over he’s been blindsighted by larger-than-him things, so, it’s a toss of the coin at this point...(Kodya and Gyrus, over the years.)





	haze of heat

Kodya used to like the warmth.

As a hunter, heat is only really found in the dead fur of the animals his customers adorned. But Kodya could never find solace in those coats, because when he looks at them, he can only see the animal’s fur matted with blood.

The forest is—or was a constant torrential downpour. It was almost impossible to create a fire from the rotting, damp wood, and even with a primitive one, it could never stop the bone-deep chill from being drenched in the rain.

What really solidified Kodya’s love for warmth is his dislike of the cold. He remembers the shock and numbness from the ocean, water rushing into his lungs with desperation, and he remembers realizing that it isn’t really different from his own world before slipping away.

The next thing Kodya remembers is Gyrus hovering over him while he hacks the water out of his lungs. And he’s confused. Gyrus asks Kodya what his name is, a trivial thing as he shakes from the frozen ocean and Kodya barely manages to breathe, hesitant and unsure.

The Room of Swords isn’t necessarily warm, with its empty whites, but it’s loud with celebration and constantly moving. Kodya doesn’t remember most of what was said that night, nor does he remember much of the laughter and joy. A lot of the Room of Swords is fleeting.

Years, maybe months later, Kodya learns to hate warmth. Gyrus’s arms burn with ruin energy, the shadows themselves cutting into his face with searing pain. All he can think is  _ why why why why  _ as hot tears run down his face, and the boss sword is held up against his throat.

Why?

Gyrus has practically won. His portal remains open, shadow soldiers spilling in and battling every last member of the Room of Swords. Don is useless, bleeding out on the ground and missing his legs. So why  _ grab _ Kodya?

He should be dead by now. 

Kodya’s runes always burn and it’s no different on Gyrus’s face. He grabs the sword and  _ slashes _ , a clean cut despite the fact that he’s shaking with adrenaline and emotion. Blood has never been this warm.

Gyrus quakes with laughter and choking on blood, muttering inane things and claiming that he’s winning. Which is still true, but the shadow soldiers retreat into the portal as if being sucked up and closes with a blip. No time is wasted caring for the wounded and repairing the infrastructure of the Room of Swords.

Later, Kodya starts to remember bits and pieces of the battle. He remembers Gyrus practically claiming him, calling him  _ confused.  _ And whispers of  _ this isn’t over. _ He remembers Gyrus’s shock (not shock, he’s never uncomposed) at Kodya attacking,  _ killing _ him.

And mostly, he remembers anger.  _ How dare you. I can’t side with you. Get off me. You don’t own me. I loved you, you motherfucking idiot— _

But then he talks to Don, to Nepthys and Ragan, he reads, he thinks (despite having a reputation of not doing that), and he realizes that something larger, something bigger is at play.

And Kodya doesn’t know who to trust.

(So, yeah. He doesn’t like the warmth, because that means Gyrus, and Gyrus means bad, bad things.)

**Author's Note:**

> an older fic i totally forgot i wrote,, we’re gonna get some more ragan next chapter! totally love that haha—
> 
> i’m really tryna do work and little ros scenes pop into my head and i’m like “well fuck i guess gotta get this all down then”
> 
> there are,,, a lot of aus


End file.
